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Numbers Show Watching Mavs Win It All Good For Your Health

Dirk Nowitzki #41 of the Dallas Mavericks holds up the Larry O'Brien trophy as he celebrates with his teammates and team owner Mark Cuban after the Mavericks won 105-95 against the Miami Heat in Game Six of the 2011 NBA Finals. (credit: Chris Chambers/Getty Images)

TARRANT COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM) – Apparently having the Dallas Mavericks make it to the NBA Finals is not only good for North Texas, but also good for the health of their fans!

What’s more impressive than Dirk’s double-double performance in Game 2 of the Finals? Medstar Emergency Medical Services is reporting a double-digit drop in calls during each of the Finals games.

“It’s kind of a rumor that it [fewer emergency calls] happened, so that’s kinda what drove us to look at the numbers and check it out,” explained Medstar Public Information Officer Suzy Miller.

Miller credits the drop in ‘on-scene calls’ to fans watching the Mavs ‘beat the Heat’. “We noticed about a 30-percent decrease in the number of emergency medical responses that were needed in our service area during the actual times of playoff games.”

The biggest emergency call drop was 43-percent during Game 2. The smallest drop was 15-percent during Game 3. “We’re hoping that people were just focused on watching the game and having a good time and celebrating the home team and uh, and cheering on the Mavs,” said Miller.

With more North Texans in the air conditioning, watching the game there were fewer folks out in the 90+degree weather. Usually this time of year Miller says EMS workers are dealing with a lot of heat-related issues. “There’s your heat exposures… that kind of thing.”

The number comparison is something Millers says Medstar may track for any future playoff games by North Texas teams. “Now that we’ve discovered this it’s probably something we’re gonna keep an eye on in the future.”